UN Chief Condemns Rich Countries ‘Vicious’ Tactics Against Poor

UN leader Antonio Guterres - AP
UN leader Antonio Guterres - AP
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UN Chief Condemns Rich Countries ‘Vicious’ Tactics Against Poor

UN leader Antonio Guterres - AP
UN leader Antonio Guterres - AP

UN leader Antonio Guterres on Saturday slammed the world's rich countries and energy giants for throttling poor nations with "predatory" interest rates and crippling fuel prices.

Guterres told a summit of the most deprived states on the planet that wealthy nations should provide $500 billion a year to help others "trapped in vicious cycles" that block their efforts to boost economies and improve health and education.

The summit of the 46 Least Developed Countries (LDC) is normally held every 10 years but has twice been delayed since 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to AFP.

Afghanistan and Myanmar, two of the poorest countries, are not present at the meeting in Doha because their governments are not recognized by UN members.

No leader from any of the world's major economies attended.

At the summit opening, Guterres hit out straight away at the way poor nations are treated by the more powerful.

"Economic development is challenging when countries are starved for resources, drowning in debt, and still struggling with the historic injustice of an unequal COVID-19 response," he said.

"Combatting climate catastrophe that you did nothing to cause is challenging when the cost of capital is sky-high" and the financial help received "is a drop in the bucket", said Guterres.

"Fossil fuel giants are raking in huge profits, while millions in your countries cannot put food on the table."

Guterres said the poorest nations were being left behind in the "digital revolution" and the Ukraine war had only increased prices they pay for food and fuel.



Trump Freezes US-funded Media Outlets Including Voice of America

FILE - The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
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Trump Freezes US-funded Media Outlets Including Voice of America

FILE - The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday put journalists at Voice of America and other US-funded broadcasters on leave, abruptly freezing decades-old outlets long seen as critical to countering Russian and Chinese information offensives.
Hundreds of staffers at VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other outlets received a weekend email saying they will be barred from their offices and should surrender press passes and office-issued equipment, AFP reported.
Trump, who has already eviscerated the US global aid agency and the Education Department, on Friday issued an executive order listing the US Agency for Global Media as among "elements of the federal bureaucracy that the president has determined are unnecessary."
Kari Lake, a firebrand Trump supporter put in charge of the media agency after she lost a US Senate bid, said in an email to the outlets that federal grant money "no longer effectuates agency priorities."
The White House said the cuts would ensure "taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda," marking a dramatic tone shift towards the networks established to extend US influence overseas.
White House press official Harrison Fields wrote "goodbye" on X in 20 languages, a jab at the outlets' multilingual coverage.
VOA director Michael Abramowitz said he was among 1,300 staffers placed on leave Saturday.
"VOA needs thoughtful reform, and we have made progress in that regard. But today's action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission," he said on Facebook, noting that its coverage -- in 48 languages -- reaches 360 million people each week.
The head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which started broadcasting into the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, called the cancellation of funding "a massive gift to America's enemies."
"The Iranian ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years," its president, Stephen Capus, said in a statement.
Uncensored reporting
US-funded media have reoriented themselves since the end of the Cold War, dropping much of the programming geared toward newly democratic Central and Eastern European countries and focusing on Russia and China.
Chinese state-funded media have expanded their reach sharply over the past decade, including by offering free services to outlets in the developing world that would otherwise pay for Western news agencies.
Radio Free Asia, established in 1996, sees its mission as providing uncensored reporting into countries without free media including China, Myanmar, North Korea and Vietnam.
The outlets have an editorial firewall, with a stated guarantee of independence despite government funding.
The policy has angered some around Trump, who has long railed against media and suggested that government-funded outlets should promote his policies.
The move to end US-funded media is likely to meet challenges, much like Trump's other sweeping cuts. Congress, not the president, has the constitutional power of the purse and Radio Free Asia in particular has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past.
'Chaos'
Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders condemned the decision, saying it "threatens press freedom worldwide and negates 80 years of American history in supporting the free flow of information."
Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and senior Democratic congresswoman Lois Frankel said in a joint statement that Trump's move would "cause lasting damage to US efforts to counter propaganda around the world."
One VOA employee, who requested anonymity, described Saturday's message as another "perfect example of the chaos and unprepared nature of the process," with VOA staffers presuming that scheduled programming is off but not told so directly.

A Radio Free Asia employee said: "It's not just about losing your income. We have staff and contractors who fear for their safety. We have reporters who work under the radar in authoritarian countries in Asia. We have staff in the US who fear deportation if their work visa is no longer valid."
"Wiping us out with the strike of a pen is just terrible."